When USask Athletic Wall of Fame Inductee and Huskie women's hockey alumna Breanne George started playing hockey, she played with the boys - something she said didn't feel unusual having grown up in a hockey family.

"I was a rink rat when I was younger. My dad coached and played for many years and my brother played. A lot of my memories are at the rink, watching him play."

At that time playing hockey wasn't something a lot of girls her age did. and girls leagues were limited, she said.

Though she grew up playing street hockey with the older kids, her parents were still a bit apprehensive about letting her officially play with the boys.

"I had to beg my parents to let me play hockey. Finally, they said yes. I started kind of late, around 10 or 11. I think there was a Comets team at the time, but it was pretty new and I felt comfortable playing with the boys, so that's where I started."

She looked up to her dad and her brother and said her original desire to play may have come from simply wondering why she couldn't.
 
"I think I felt at the time like, why can't I play hockey? I think maybe that was the driving factor. I'd played ball with the boys at that point too, so I think I just thought why not."

She said her experience with the boys teams was great.

"I felt welcome because I actually knew quite a few of them from my brother and my dad just being in the hockey community in Saskatoon. I had lots of coaches that made me feel comfortable and supported."

She also said she felt a sense of pride about being the only girl.

"I loved it. I think I loved having them not knowing I was a girl, until someone in the stands, or one of the parents on our team, would say something. I was standing out in general and then for people to realize I was a girl, too."

As she got older, when it came time to choose between hockey and some of the other sports she played, hockey was the obvious choice. 

"I remember at one point I kind of had to choose. Like, do you want to play hockey or do you want to play other things? I remember sitting in the kitchen thinking, nope, I want to play hockey."

At the time she said, despite no professional women's leagues, there was more opportunity to play hockey long term versus other sports.

"You could go on and play university hockey. I was trying to think a little bit more down the line. There was a bit more opportunity to play hockey for at least a few more years or get a scholarship or do those kinds of things. There wasn't really that same opportunity with other sports at that time."

In high school, she eventually made the switch to the girls' league, a transition she said in some ways was hard.

"I actually struggled at that time. It was just a very different level of hockey back then and I found it difficult. At the same time, I was playing with people I was in high school with - more of my friends. So socially, I enjoyed it way more," George said. "But in terms of the competitive aspect, it was a bit frustrating and challenging for me. The league just wasn't as developed as it is now."
 
That changed when she went on to play AAA with the Saskatchewan Stars during her senior year of high school.

"At that point the hockey was a bit more competitive. We were playing provincially against other teams, as opposed to playing other city teams."

This was also where some big decisions about George's future in hockey entered the picture.

"My dad had talked to me about it and said if I wanted a future in hockey, I'd have to go to the U.S., to Notre Dame, otherwise I wouldn't have one. That's what it was like back then."

George headed to Indiana for some pre-season camps, only to realize it wasn't for her.

"To be perfectly honest with you, I hated it. I hated everything about it. It felt like torture. It wasn't fun at all."

She said she knew the potential that came with going to the U.S. but also knew it wasn't the path for her. 

The women's hockey path was only so long at the time and George wanted to focus on her career aspirations as well.

"I felt like I almost had to choose between still loving hockey, but then also working towards like another goal of becoming a professional after. And again, it felt like it would have been really challenging to do both - to play hockey and become a professional at the same time."

It was then that George decided to stay close to home in Saskatchewan and play for the Huskies.

She wanted to take hockey seriously but also wanted to have fun doing it.

"As soon as I started talking more to Steve and training and being at the PAC, it was just a perfect fit and it was just super fun," George said. "My first year with the Huskies, there were eight to 10 of us that I had known either from Regina or from Saskatoon. We had played AAA. It was this new thing, and a little intimidating to play a little bit more structured, professional hockey. It was nice knowing that I knew such a core group of people that also made the team."

That core group stuck around and are still in touch today, George said. 
 
Huskie Women's Hockey assistant coach Robin Ulrich was one of them.

It was Ulrich who delivered the news to George that she would become the first Huskie Women's Hockey player to be inducted into the USask Athletic Wall of Fame.

Already a Canada West Hall of Fame Inductee and given her record, it was no surprise.

From 2007 to 2012, George became the program's all-time leader in points (144) and goals (81).

She still holds the best single-season mark in Huskie history, when in 2009-10 she led the conference with 28 goals and 46 points.

That same year she became the first Huskie Women's Hockey player to be named the Canada West MVP, was the recipient of the University of Saskatchewan's Mary Ethel Cartwright Trophy recipient and a First Team All-Canadian (an accolade she repeated in 2010-11).

George is also a three-time Canada West All-Star, recording double-digit goal totals in all five seasons, including three straight years (from 2008-2011) with at least 15 goals.

Additionally in 2011, George represented Canada at the FISU Winter Games in Turkey, scoring seven goals and totaling 12 points to help Canada capture gold.

Ulrich said George helped end a "drought", kickstarting 16 years of Huskie Women's Hockey making the playoffs.
 
"When I think of Breanne, I think of the way she raised the standard of excellence in the program in terms of her compete, battle and want to win. It really changed the culture within our program and helped us step forward to where we are today."

Huskie Women's Hockey played on the road the same weekend of the ceremony, preventing Ulrich from attending.

"We were laughing back and forth how she was going to boycott the game and I was going to boycott the ceremony until they switched it. She said sorry, Georgie, I don't think they're going to switch it," George said laughing.

Ulrich arranged to have a heartfelt video message played to ensure George knew how much she meant to the program.

"For her to do that message, it just meant so much. She's always been such an amazing friend and such an amazing cheerleader for me. And even how she's working so hard to develop the program right now. I'm so proud of her."

As for her induction into the USask Athletic Wall of Fame, George said it was overwhelming and "such an honour" to be recognized for such a special time in her life. 

"It was also so cool to see some of the girls I had played with show up. I didn't say anything and they found out and they wanted to come and support me, which also felt so nice that they would do that. And I think just speaks again, to how grateful I am for the relationships and that we still keep in such close contact with each other. I have hockey to thank for that. And I have especially the Huskies to thank for that."

In addition to her love for hockey, Breanne knew from a young age that she wanted to be a physiotherapist.

"Sounds funny, but I think in grade eight, I knew I wanted to be in physio. That's what I wanted to do for my career," George said. "I've always had a medical mind and I enjoy helping people. I think that's a highlight of being a physio. You're able to sit down and actually talk to people and get to know them and empower them to reach whatever their goals are. I think that's kind of what drew me to it."

After finishing both her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and Masters' in physio at USask, George moved to Sherwood Park with her now husband Joel, a former Huskie Football player and firefighter with the City of Edmonton.
 

Now mom to two-year-old Owen, George manages The Bridge Sports Therapy and Training in Sherwood Park.

She said her experience as an athlete helps her to better understand clients.

"Being an athlete, I can communicate with them a little bit differently or get on the same page because I've had some of the same experiences."

Reflecting on her childhood and the evolution of women and girls in hockey, George said it's empowering and motivating to see how much the sport has grown, especially with the development of the PWHL.

"Why can't women have the same opportunities as men? I kind of had to choose between do I want to play hockey or do I want to have a career? There was no in between - there was no option to play professional hockey. To have that like next step… it almost took too long for it to happen." George said. "But it's amazing to see because this is how it should be, right?"